So Much Hate for the Ones We Love
by bmreno2013
Summary: Set after 2x22. Damon and Elena set out to find Stefan, but who knows what will happen along the way. Delena.
1. Chapter 1

Elena woke up to sunlight filling her room. As she lay in bed trying to erase the effects of a long nights sleep from her face, a feeling of dread coursed through her. Her groggy mind began to remember yesterday's events, as well as those of the past month. Every morning was like this; Elena would wake up with a strange sense of sadness, not remembering why she should be so sad. But just like every other morning, after a few moments she would remember why her heart felt like it had been ripped from her chest. The sacrifice, Damon's almost death, Stefan's deal with Klaus, and the continuing failed attempt at finding Stefan would all fly through Elena's mind in a matter of seconds. But just like every other morning, she would tell herself to suck it up. No matter how depressed or alone or terrified she felt, people needed her. More importantly Stefan needed her. So just like every morning, Elena rose from bed ignoring the tiny voice telling her to give up hope.

She glanced at the red numbers on her alarm clock reading 11:08 am, telling her that she had gotten a little too much sleep. Slightly frustrated with herself for the late start she was getting on her day, she quickly walked to the bathroom she and Jeremy shared intent on taking a quick shower. She stripped off her tank top and pajama shorts, and was about to do the same with her bra and underwear, when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Elena had always been very petite with just the right amount of curves, but lately she was losing quite a bit of weight, and it showed. She could see her ribs slightly protruding from herabdominal. Ignoring her reflection and the dropping feeling in her stomach every time she saw how thin she was getting, she stepped into the hot water of the shower.

After dressing in a pair of blue jean shorts, a dark blue cami, and a sleeveless white cardigan, Elena went to the bathroom to get to work on her hair. She blow dried it and straightened a few imperfect pieces with her flat iron before braiding a small section of hair and stretching it across her head like a headband. Satisfied with her reflection, she brushed her teeth and grabbed a pair of white flip flops as she headed downstairs.

Elena walked into the kitchen and saw Ric standing by the sink with his back to her. She smiled a bit at seeing him, but the smiled faded just as fast as it came when Ric turned to face her. She could tell he had been drinking. A lot.

"Good afternoon Rick," Elena said in the best happy voice she could pull off.

"Yeah it's great," he mumbled back, not trying in the least bit to control his depressed and hung over sounding voice. Since losing Jenna, Rick had been drinking earlier and earlier as well as more and more.

Elena had noticed these changes, but didn't have the heart to say anything to him just yet. It had only been a month since the ritual, since the death of Jenna, and to be quite frank, she couldn't blame him for his current behavior and distractedness. Sometimes she fantasized about doing the same, although she never really did try drowning her sorrows in alcohol. It didn't much seem to work for Rick, anyway.

Deciding that an apple sufficed for her breakfast, Elena grabbed a green one from the basket on the kitchen table, as well as her keys from the hall table, and headed toward the boarding house. On the drive over Elena couldn't help but letting her thoughts slip to those of Stefan; memories of him particularly before the sacrifice that threatened her life. The drive became one of reminiscing and even smiling for a few moments while she thought of the time she and Stefan had first kissed and of the time Stefan took her to the top of the ferris wheel in the dead of night. As she pulled into the boarding house driveway, however, the aching feeling in her gut came right back. She missed Stefan with everything she possessed and no amount of reminiscing could ever do his absence justice.

Elena walked straight through the door without knocking, out of habit, and strode past all of the ancient, yet breathtaking, furnishings into the living room (well she thought she should maybe call it a parlor since the house seemed to be stuck in the 1800s) where Damon was standing with a drink in his hand.

"You must have had a really _exhausting_ night," Damon sneered, innuendo dripping in his comment.

With that Elena shot him a look of disapproval.

"Relax Elena. I know for now we have more pressing matters at hand like locating Stefan the bunny slayer."

"Have you or Ric found any leads? Anything at all?" Elena asked with a twinge of desperation in her voice. It had been a month and they hadn't found any 'animal attacks' that could be linked to Stefan and Klaus, assuming that they are still together that is. There were animal attacks here and there but nothing unusual that screamed 'bad tempered original and Stefan the Ripper.'

"Nope," Damon said, putting an annoying emphasis on the p.

Elena hadn't expected an answer any different than the one she received, but she had still hoped for something slightly better. There was no sign of Stefan or Klaus anywhere. Damon had been to several states, compelling police officers to give him information on all of the recent animal attacks. He had even tried finding Katherine since she always kept tabs on Stefan's whereabouts, but none of his sources knew anything about where she had went. Elena was desperate for news, but it looked as though Klaus and Stefan were staying way off the radar. The worst part was that Elena felt so helpless. Damon did all the investigating, for obvious reasons, and had refused to let Elena out of his sight for the past month, and doing nothing did not sit well with her.

"Damon I have to do something. I have to find him. He wouldn't give up on me, I can't give up on him," Elena begged. She couldn't take the feeling of helplessness much longer.

"No. Klaus thinks you are dead, and the second he finds out otherwise he will snap your neck without a second thought."

"I'm willing to take the risk, I have been-"

"You are not going on a kamikaze mission Elena," Damon snapped, cutting her off mid-sentence. He was sick of her incessant attempts of suicide missions, and was not about to let her face off Klaus, the psychopathic hybrid original that thought she was dead. No fucking way.

"Damon, it's my life," Elena stated quietly, almost afraid to have say it. She and Damon had had this same fight over and over. She was willing to risk anything to save the ones she loved, but he wouldn't let her, and she knew that when it came down to it, he had the vampire strength capable of keeping her from leaving.

"Yeah well, I'm keeping you from screwing it up. You'll thank me later," Damon grunted ending the conversation.

Frustrated, Elena glared at him and stormed out the door, determined to make today worthwhile. If Damon wasn't going to let her help him find Stefan, then she would just have to do a little digging on her own, and she had a brilliant idea.

Elena drove straight home, going over the speed limit due to a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Her plan had sounded brilliant ten minutes ago, but now she was starting to find flaws. Despite this, she marched straight to her shared bathroom and pulled out her curling iron. While her curling iron heated up, she went through her closet to find the most form fitting, sexy pairs of jeans she owned, and a very revealing, low cut shirt that Caroline had once bought her as a joke.

Forty-five minutes later Elena's, hair was a wild tangle of curls, her eyes were lined with dark black liner, and her lips were curved in a smirk that would rival Damon's. To finish the look she pulled on a black leather jacket and a pair of sleek, calf high, heeled black boots. Looking in her full length mirror, Elena almost gasped at the resemblance she held to her doppelganger. She looked stunning to most girls' standards, but to herself, Elena looked like the representation of manipulation, selfishness, and pride. Shaking her head and trying her best to keep her cool no matter what, she sent Damon a text that read, "_Going to Caroline's for some forced bonding time. If I live through it, we are going to have a talk. I am sick of sitting on the sidelines." _ Next she texted Caroline, "_I am going to the lake house this weekend to try and clear my head, but I'm sick of Damon tracking my every move, so I told him I'm spending the weekend with you. I know he will back off if he thinks I'm with you, and I just need a little time to myself, ya know? Cover for me?" _Elena knew it was wrong to play Caroline against Damon like that, but she was running out of options, so she texted Jeremy her plan to "spend time with Caroline" and got into her car, knowing very well Caroline would cover for her in a heartbeat.

Elena discreetly parked her car about three miles from the boarding house in the woods and walked the rest of the way. This gave her time to think about just how she was going to pull this off. It would take a miracle for Damon to believe she was Katherine, let alone for him to buy the story she was about to feed him, but pretending to be Katherine showing up to give away Stefan's approximate location seemed to be the only way Elena could get Damon out of town long enough for her to get something done. So for three miles, she walked with her head held high, hips moving from left to right trying her hardest to get the impersonation of her self-centered doppelganger down pat.


	2. Chapter 2: Right Away, Miss Katherine

Author's Note: I am so unbelievably sorry about how long it took to upload this chapter. I have a list of reasons why, but I'm sure you would much rather read the new chapter I will try my hardest to finish and upload the next chapter by tomorrow or Tuesday since this one took forever and a lifetime.

Previously on the Vampire Diaries:

It would take a miracle for Damon to believe she was Katherine, let alone for him to buy the story she was about to feed him, but pretending to be Katherine showing up to give away Stefan's approximate location seemed to be the only way Elena could get Damon out of town long enough for her to get something done. So for three miles, she walked with her head held high, hips moving from left to right trying her hardest to get the impersonation of her self-centered doppelganger down pat.

Chapter 2: Right away, Miss Katherine

Just breathe. It'll be fine. Just breathe.

Elena repeated these words in her head over and over again as her mind went through every possible scenario of this plan failing. She imagined Damon attacking her, leaving Elena with no vampire strength to fight back. She imagined Damon mentioning something of his and Katherine's past that Elena had no knowledge of, leaving her at a loss of words. She imagined every single possibility in great detail until she was shaking with anxiety.

About a mile of the walk was like this; Elena picturing how terribly wrong things might go. She was having serious doubts about whether or not to go through with the plan. She could easily get Caroline to actually have bonding time with her, and forget this whole stupid idea even occurred to her. The only thing holding Elena back from doing just that, was her memory of Stefan. As much as she had been picturing this plan going wrong for the past 25 minutes, she pictured horrible things happening to the man she loved even more. This was what kept Elena going. The thought of Stefan kept Elena pushing through her immense doubts.

When the boarding house driveway came into view, Elena focused all of her attention onto two things: Stefan, and pretending to be Katherine. She walked down the driveway wearing a smirk on her face, in case Damon was watching her, and a particular swag to her walk.

Approaching the door, she decided that Katherine wouldn't knock, but would instead barge right in. So, with a bust of courage and strength Elena threw open the heavy boarding house door and drawled, "You sure have let the place go, Damon. It's a shame Stefan isn't around to see. He's always so sexy when he's angry." Elena felt a stab of pain at throwing Katherine's love for the other brother in Damon's face, but she knew it was the perfect thing to say.

Damon instantly blurred towards Elena and pinned her to the wall, his arms on either side of her, leaving Elena shaken up, but not actually hurt. Fear instantly swept over her, but she kept the fear and the shock off of her face, and sneered, "Still can't keep your hands off me, I see."

"What are you doing here Katherine?" Damon growled, staring daggers into Elena's eyes.

"I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd come check up on my favorite doppelganger. And with a lack of Stefan these days, I figured she would be here. With you," Elena said emphasizing the last two words. She could see Damon's expression changing from anger to rage at the mention of Elena, and finally to something Elena couldn't quite read.

When Damon didn't respond immediately, Elena smiled and teased, "What? Stefan left and you thought that Elena would end up with you? Come on Damon, you and I both know that'll never happen." Elena leaned into Damon, as close as she could possibly get, and whispered, "Just face it, it will always be Stefan." The words just poured out of Elena before she could put a filter on them. She didn't have time to think about the consequences of her words, she was too focused on staying in character, and playing Katherine was making her stomach do flips; or maybe it was being so close to Damon, she couldn't really tell.

Through all of this, Elena looked calm, collected, and to be quite frank, bithcy, but on the inside her mind was running on overdrive. Her main goal at this point was to slow her pulse down. She couldn't believe that Damon hadn't heard her heart beating a mile a minute because to her it felt like it was about to fly right out of her chest.

"Why are you really here?" Damon asked, ignoring everything that Elena just said.

Elena's mind went completely blank and she realized that she never really came up with an explanation to give to Damon, nor did she think of a city to claim that Stefan was currently in. Anxious and ready to find Stefan, she forgot to think up the most important part of the plan. _How could I be so stupid_, she thought. Mentally freaking out, Elena realized she needed more time to think, so she did the first thing that popped in her head. She cupped Damon's face in her hands and whispered into his ear seductively, "Maybe I just wanted to see you."

"Sorry, but that ship sailed a long time ago Katherine. How many times do I have to tell you, you just don't do it for me anymore," Damon responded, pulling back from her grasp. Immediately, Elena grabbed Damon's face between her hands, and kissed him. It started out slow, but after a few seconds, Damon was nipping at Elena's bottom lip, forcing her lips to part. He began kissing her roughly, and Elena started to kiss back, when she realized just who it was she was kissing. She instantly pulled back and stumbled forwards into Damon. She hadn't even realized that he was supporting her weight. Elena took a few seconds to gather herself, while Damon stood before her still in shock.

"Looks like you aren't as over me as you thought," Elena quipped. "Might want to reconsider chasing that annoying little doppelganger."

"Where's Stefan? I know that's why you are here so for once in your life stop toying with me and just tell me what you came here to tell me," Damon begged, raw emotion dripping in every word. Elena rarely saw Damon like this, and she felt extremely guilty for causing his despair. However, she felt a lot guiltier for something else at the moment.

"You were much more fun in 1864. But if you must know the last I saw of Stefan was in Denver and that was three days ago. They move on fast."

"They have to with the trial of bodies they have been leaving," Damon stated unemotionally. By now, he had wiped all the emotion of his face and was back to the cold, heartless Damon that most people saw. And Damon going from extremely emotional to cold was never good.

"Well you know Stefan. He'll be back to brooding and bunny chasing as soon as you bring him home," Elena said hoping that it was the truth. Damon's statement about bodies scared Elena. It scared her to her core, because no matter how many stories Stefan told her of his ripper days, it could never amount to the real Ripper Stefan. She never wanted to see that side of him, and it looked like she just might have to.

"Maybe," Damon muttered. He walked into the parlor only to immerge moments later with the keys to his Camaro in his hand. "As much as I love our little talks, I have bigger fish to fry. Feel free to let yourself out."

"If you get sick of chasing after Elena, I'm always ready for a good time if you know what I mean," Elena teased as Damon walked out the door.

The moment Elena heard Damon's car pull out of the driveway, she let a breath she didn't even know she was holding. She stumbled over to the stairs and held onto the banister trying not to cry. Stefan was leaving a trail of bodies. He was off the rails again, and this time he was murdering innocent people. And to top it all off, Damon knew this all along and didn't tell her. Elena wondered what else Damon knew about Stefan that he was keeping from her. _Well_, she thought, _I'll just have to find out._

Elena stormed up the stairs, anger pouring through her at Damon's betrayal. He knew how desperate she was for information on Stefan, and yet he kept such a vital detail hidden from her. _Screw him. I hope it hurts when he finds out that it was me downstairs and not Katherine._

Trying to put Damon's betrayal out of her mind, Elena started to think. If Damon had information on Stefan, he had to have it somewhere. He would definitely keep it at the boarding house, but where? In his room?

Deciding that was where she needed to start, Elena walked into Damon's simple, but elegant bedroom. The first thing she saw was his king size bed. Immediately, her mind was drawn back to one month ago, to when she held a dying Damon in her arms. To when she kissed Damon. _I thought he was going to die. I just wanted him to be happy. That's it. That is all it was. And earlier I just needed to buy time. I couldn't blow my cover. Me kissing Damon is really helping Stefan, because now I can find him and bring him home. That is all it was_.

Next, Elena remembered Katherine's debut. _It's okay to love them both. I did. _Elena had never wanted to hit anybody, besides Damon, in her entire life until this point. But at that moment, she wanted to hit Katherine for implying such a thing. Elena loved Stefan with her whole heart. The only love she felt for Damon was comparable to the love she felt for Jeremy. Katherine was just angry that Damon had moved on from her.

Shaking her head, as to clear it, Elena walked to Damon's dresser. _I need to focus on finding out everything that Damon knows about Stefan's whereabouts. _She looked in Damon's dressers and armoire. She looked under his bed, and in his bathroom. She looked everywhere she could think to look, and she found nothing. Not even a trace.

Three hours later, Elena had looked in every nook and cranny in the boarding house, yet came through empty handed. She was about to have a breakdown, when she realized that there was one room she hadn't checked. The room she hadn't been in in over a month. And what better place to hide information from Elena in, than the room she didn't dare go into: Stefan's bedroom.

Elena hadn't gone into Stefan's room since he left with Klaus. She didn't want to be reminded of his absence. Even walking past it made her heart ache. She wasn't sure that even now she could handle it. But once she thought about it, she was sure that any information Damon had on Stefan would be in Stefan's room.

Excited by the thought of finally finding something out about Stefan, Elena ran, as fast as she could, into Stefan's bedroom. She went looking in his closet first, and what she saw left her speechless. The closet walls that once held clothes and shelves filled with treasures from all the years Stefan had lived were now filled with newspaper clippings and internet printouts of articles that all told similar stories. Brutal deaths of teenage girls. Major blood loss. There were pictures of gory crime scenes scattered around. Elena had never seen anything like it. No CSI or Criminal Minds TV show compared. This was sick, and the worst part was that every victim was extremely similar. They all had long brown hair and brown eyes, about seventeen or eighteen. They all looked like Elena.

Author's Note Part 2: Thank you so much for sticking with it! Once again I am so sorry for keeping you waiting for so long. I know I absolutely hate it when my fanfics make me wait this long. Well anyway I would love it if you took a minute or two to tell me what you thought about this chapter. Reviews are wonderful. Hope you enjoyed!

P.S. Props to everyone who got the joke of the title. That means you are true Vampire Diaries fans


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